A Swanage writer will reveal an excerpt from his latest stage play about a local obsession – fish and chips! – at an event to encourage others to become scriptwriters.
Tim Poultney, who works front of house at The Mowlem in Swanage, will become the focus of attention in the theatre’s Studio on Tuesday 4th February 2025, when he presents a taster from Battered, a new play about two men working in a fish and chip shop.
A taster session for The Script’s The Thing is heading to Swanage
Event to interest creative writers
It is part of A Little Bit of The Script’s The Thing, a special scriptwriting evening, presented in partnership with Artsreach and Dorchester Arts and also features advice from Purbeck Film Festival patron Sir Mark Rylance.
Sir Mark, currently starring as Thomas Cromwell in the BBC’s Tudor drama Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light, is among famous actors, playwrights and directors who feature in a film, which will be shown during the evening, to reveal what makes a good script from their point of view.
The evening is being staged to interest Purbeck creatives in The Script’s The Thing 2, a free scriptwriting festival being held in Dorchester on Saturday 3rd May 2025, expected to feature new work from more than 70 writers for stage, TV, film and performance events.
As a taster of what will be on offer in May, The Mowlem’s preview event will also include a question and answer session with festival director Ed Viney to let people know how they can become involved with the next Dorset scriptwriting extravaganza.
Festival director Ed Viney is looking for Swanage writers to submit their scripts
First festival attracted 500 people
Ed Viney said:
“The submission window for scripts for our main festival is currently open until Friday 21st March 2025 and these little events are raising awareness of The Script’s The Thing 2 and letting people know how they can get involved and submit their own work for inclusion.
“We first held the festival in 2023 and it attracted more than 500 people – we were expecting between 15 and 20 scripts and we received more than 70 which we were delighted about, despite it becoming a logistical challenge!
“This year we hope to get even more people involved at the event in Dorchester. We have all the performance spaces at the Corn Exchange, plus the King’s Arms, Tom Brown’s, the Museum, and Shire Hall and we hope to give a space to everyone who applies with a script.
“But if we have to make a selection, it will be on the basis of the connection which writers have to Dorset, as it is essentially a county scriptwriting festival.
“So – do the writers live or work in Dorset, does their script have a theme relevant to the county, perhaps written in dialect or from a particular historical period? We’d like to make sure that not all of the scripts are folk horror or romcoms, but that there is a diversity there.”
A Little Bit of The Script’s The Thing is at The Mowlem Studio on Tuesday 4th February 2025
Discover a huge range of new writing
Other preview events have been held in Sturminster Newton, Shaftesbury and Dorchester as Artsreach tries to get the word out around Dorset to raise interest in the major festival this May, which once again has backing from the Arts Council to make it a free event.
The festival provides an opportunity for writers to present work at any stage of development, from initial ideas through to first draft, which they really want to take further.
It also allows the public to come and discover a huge range of new writing in a bite-size format – a fully staged extract or shown in a partial presentation – and all completely free to attend.
Alongside the best of new Dorset talent, there will be plenty of other events including writers’ workshops, talks from the BBC and the National Theatre, and question and answer sessions with industry experts.
It’s a chance for budding and established writers to try their work before a live audience
Visit to Swanage to spread the word
Ed Viney said:
“We threw everything at the first festival and it was very successful, we were almost overwhelmed at how full the day was with scripts and events.
“We wanted to make sure that when we landed a second festival we would have a little more contact with writers and directors across the county, hence this visit to Swanage to spread the word.
“We were very lucky again this year with funding, so the May festival in Dorchester is free for writers to participate in and free for anyone to attend, there’s no charge on curiosity.
“Whether you have an interest in writing or just want to come and hear from the screen writer of your favourite television programme, everyone will be very welcome and we hope to attract even more visitors this time.”
Purbeck Arts Festival patron Sir Mark Rylance, here in Wolf Hall, has taken part in a film to promote the scriptwriting festival
Battered is set in a fish and chip shop
Ed added:
“One of the reasons for doing this event in Swanage is to explain the concept of the festival in person and to answer questions. We have an online video and website with lots of detail, but coming along to an event, meeting people and having conversations can help explain what the festival is all about.
“We will also be showcasing a local writer, Tim Poultney, who is based in Swanage and has a new script called Battered which is all about two young lads working in a fish and chip shop, so we will be performing a short extract from that.
“Tim is involved in the Dorset Scriptwriters’ network, came along to a network meeting a couple of years ago and has since had work at Pipeline at the Lighthouse in Poole.
“We are all about supporting writers who are trying to create new pieces of work, and would love other writers from Swanage and Purbeck to submit scripts which we could show to a wider audience at the festival in May.”
Tim Poultney, who works front of house at The Mowlem, is looking forward to presenting his work
Placed second in a top competition
Tim Poultney, who studied scriptwriting at university, came back to it during the pandemic but found writing alone a lonely process and made contact with Ed Viney when he reached out on social media looking for support from like-minded people.
Tim entered a play called That Was Him And This Is Me into Ed’s original scriptwriting festival in 2023 and found that having a live audience giving their genuine thoughts about it was both eye opening and uplifting.
Another of his plays, Whatever Happened To Old Harry’s Wife? came in second place in an international festival staged by Scriptwriters and Co in Bath and now Tim is looking forward to taking the next step forward by winning a competition.
He is hoping to have a piece of his work staged, even if just for one night, and looks forward to taking further steps on the ladder to becoming a working writer in future.
Another play by Tim placed second in an international scriptwriting competition in 2024
“Once I come up with a terrible pun…”
Tim said:
“Events like The Script’s The Thing are immensely important for budding writers, or even established writers who are trying something new and want feedback on their work.
“For new writers, just the opportunity to get their script in front of an audience and experience a connection and a reaction, to see if the idea could work, is so helpful.
“Originally, Battered was going to be a piece about teachers and students processing grief and anxiety, but I don’t come from a teaching background and that was obvious in the script, although the theme is something everyone can relate to.
“Ed suggested I should set it in a chip shop and initially I was uncertain, but then I came up with a name for the play and as people know, once I come up with a terrible pun it sticks in my mind.
“So, a fish and chip shop it was – it’s even set in a shop named after what was once a real Swanage shop, the Silver Fish Grill.
“It’s developed into a play for four characters and is really taking on a life of its own – I look forward to sharing an excerpt of it with the audience at A Little Bit of The Script’s The Thing.”
Further information
- Tickets for the Swanage event are available through The Mowlem’s website
- Find out more about The Script’s The Thing and submit your own script at Dorchester Arts website
